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Climate Change Blamed for Tick Spread

NORWAY – Shorter snow seasons have been attributed to the northward advance of ticks and act as another reminder to abate climate change.

A trend for snow to arrive later in the year and disappear earlier is raising soil temperatures and giving ticks better opportunities to reproduce and thrive, say veterinary experts.

Now spotted as far north as the town of Harstad, ticks are beginning to thrive in wetter and warmer conditions which the Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NVI) has said is due to changing climatic conditions.

So far, ticks have been confirmed to have moved 400 km further north than previously recorded and are now found in hill regions up to 7-800 metres above sea level.

The trend for increasing soil temperature fluctuations through the day has been noted over the past 30 years, said Mrs Jore, an NVI veterinary scientist who has carried out an investigation into changing tick populations in Norway.

Other published studies argue that that areas of established elk and deer populations correlate with tick density.

Staff at the NVI demand vigilance against the organism stating that ticks pose health risks to humans as well as cattle and other animals.